When the Lights go Out, We come Out

[Luna]

Another eventful day at Surion Weyr was coming to a close. Luna sighed as she finally was able to shed her clothes and plop into bed and luxuriate as the feeling of stretching out in bed washed over her. The feeling that you get right when you lay back and stretch and feel the cool fabric against your skin. Rukbat had dipped below the horizon quite a time ago, but she'd been giving the drudges a few instructions so that assignments were rotated. Apparently someone had been shirking their duties by giving others the really hard stuff. Guess who had latrine duties for the next two sevenday?

She chuckled and turned over to blow out the candle. Her weyr descended into darkness and she sighed a smile still playing on her lips. It wouldn't be but a few hours later that she started feeling a little restless. It was getting so bad that it woke her up, she sat up but as she did the feeling went away. She shook her head and went to lie back down.

It wasn't more than three candlemarks after she closed her eyes that a hum permeated the Weyr. She huffed starting to feel a little upset about all the interruptions when she realized the eggs were going to hatch soon! In the middle of the night. With a groan she threw the covers to the other side of the bed and fumbled around until she could find some clothes and a match to light her candle.

Ugh, how she sometimes wished she had a fire lizard. Running around a Weyr wasn't the best thing to be doing at night. Then again, the fire lizard wasn't a help if you didn't have a Candidate Master to deliver the message to. Shaking her head and generally growling at all of Pern for disturbing her sleep she made her way to the Candidate Barracks. She picked up a glow and opened it right as she opened the door to the girl's barracks. "Wake up! The Hatching is about to begin. Don't forget your sandals or robes. Get dressed and get going!"

Walking down the hall she grabbed another glow and repeated the process to the boys. She then made her way towards the Hatching Sands, she paused only long enough to straighten her hair as she gave instructions to the drudges to get as much lighting in the Hatching Sands as possible in the limited time available. A few were selected to start carving the meat and get the table set up for the hungry hatchlings.

Raineth, please ask the greens, blues, and browns to transport the Holders, parents, and Harpers. Of course she had left the complete list of those to be invited in her weyr, but if they went to the major Holds nearby, the important guests would make sure they were picked up. She really didn't have time to worry about a fussy Lord Holder being indignant about not being remembered.

She glanced around at the tunnels she was in, absently trying to figure out if she was forgetting something. This was a moment when she really hated not having a big Weyr or a Weyrleader. She was a big picture kinda girl. She hated making stuff up on the spot, she tended to forget important things. She'd just have to hope her riders or Raineth spotted it before it was too late.

She straightened her shoulders and walked into the Hatching Sands...

[yankeegeek]

The word spread quickly through the Weyr, even before Raineth's call out to the other dragons. Precious few riders would ever sleep through a Hatching's 'song', and none that were flightworthy, at all. The weyrfolk Several of the blue- and greenriders woke, and dressed hastily for flights /between\ to Holds or Crafthalls. Most returned laden with sleepy or disheveled passengers, who nonetheless, for the most part, were sharing the Weyr's mood of happy anticipation.

Danathi and Silth took a trip for some of the listed guests. They went to Redcliffs Hold, first of all. Speed was essential; Hatching eggs, as a rule, waited for no one.
They dropped off three guests, giving them directions to the Sands, before Silth launched himself skyward again. The blue was enthusiastic, but really, there was only so much he could carry at one time. Danathi gave him a second set of coordinates, and the pair disappeared.

A soft rustle of huge bronze wings heralded Kemath's presence.H He swooped down, careful not to come too close to Raineth or her eggs, and took up a waiting position. R'van slid down off dragonback, crossing the sands to help the other weyrfolk set up
lighting and food tables. There was work to do; he wouldn't sit and play at being a spectator.
He also would stay nearby to assist the Weyrhealer, if any of the Candidates needed care afterward. Maulings were, hopefully, to be avoided--but sometimes they weren't. He'd seen enough Hatchings to favor caution over blind optimism.

Jarev was shaken out of sleep. He grumbled, but when he realized why they were being rousted out of bed, he couldn't get dressed and on the move soon enough. Luckily, he'd
kept his white robe and sandals packed away within easy reach.
It only took him a moment to pull them out of his chest, and put them on. Following the horde of people en route to the Sands, he
paused, at the entrance.
He was never blase about Hatchings. Even after Turns, and being passed over, they were...a joy. He hoped, as he always did, that there was a dragon in the clutch that would choose him.
But even if it didn't happen, he was quietly thrilled to be here. He shook off daydreaming, and strode briskly onto the Sands. Tne real advantage to the earlier time, the sand was warm but not yet blistering-hot.

T'mil and Qereth alit near the Stands, to let Yimian off, before they departed on their own pickup errand to Westlight. It hda been agreed that one of the larger dragons, someone more ...authoriative, in appearance, should be the one visiting there.
Despite the early hour, she looked composed, not a stitch or hair out of place. Her clothing was new, a dark wine-red tunic, and long skirt in simple beige, with gold embroideries. None of it kept her from moving quickly, however. She walked toward Luna, smiling. "Congratulations, Weyrwoman, Raineth," she called softly.

[Wangri]

Pasine
Pasine too felt the soothing sensation of complete relaxation that the Weyrwoman felt, only hers was more sore than the Goldrider's. A day full of shoveling latrines would do that to you. But it was a pleasant pain, a rarity indeed, like the feel of stretching a muscle after a cramp or getting a back massage. Thankfully, though, it prevented her from falling asleep totally, since soon the Barracks were bursting with activity! Groggily she lifted her head and tried to focus; why was the Weyr shaking? Was it an avalanche of rocks? Faranth knows that nothing was past this quaint Weyr. Pasine rolled over and squeezed her eyes shut one more time before they popped open in realization.

No! The Hatching was starting!

Instantly she hopped out of bed, fumbling with her night-gown. In her half-conscious confusion she thought it to be her Candidate robes and began flattening her hair, but one glance in the mirror reminded her that lacy indigo was not an accepted color on the Sands. Hurriedly she rummaged through her trunk, sending articles of carefully folded clothing flying. Shard it! Where was that blasted thing? She had been so anal about everything being in order that--oh, there! Pasine plucked out the white cloth and rapidly exchanged it for her gown, then joined the flow of Candidates to the Hatching Sands. Along the way she say Jarev, and was glad to see that his injury had not kept him from Standing. She would have attempted a polite greeting, but the boy seemed a little spaced out and there were more important things to do than socialize, for once.

As she entered the Sands, she couldn't help but take in a breath. Certainly she had been there before, but not with dragons lining the rim like jewels on a crown. The Stands were even starting to fill in slowly, and Pasine felt like she was putting on a show. But really, it was the dragons who needed to entertain. Shuffling in awe over to the semi-circle of Candidates, she let her starry, watery eyes fall on their shells. Show time!

Piene
For once, Piene took it upon himself to be behave the proper way. If anything, it showed how seriously he took this whole dragon/Weyr business, as strange as it was.

And true, he had been in a deep sleep by the time the commotion started. And yes, it took his awhile to fully awaken and drag himself out of bed. And yeah, he had tried for a full minute to squeeze his head through the sleeve of his overflowing Candidate robes. But miraculously he did emerge from his room in a reasonable amount of time. His robes still didn't fit perfectly, though, and since they flow over and under his relatively enormous sandals, he tripped more than a just few times on the way to the Hatching Sands. Thankfully, he was able to find a spot in the scorching sands without much incident, from feet nor from golden dragon which he eyed when he thought she wasn't looking. He had learned his lesson, alright.

Tonight, however, it wasn't the Queen he had to worry about. Tonight he had to Impress a creeling dragonet, whose arrival he impatiently waited as his gaze was glued to the eggs. Only, his feet shifted in the grains and his hands wrung themselves of whatever moisture hadn't already been evaporated. Why was this so sharding tense? He had never been like this before, ever. Looking to the vast night sky, he prayed to Faranth to start the show already.

[Luna]

The dragon's hum reached a higher pitch as the Savanna egg cracked open. Much to Luna's disappointment it had contained a brown. She knew it was silly, but a bronze hatching first was always considered good luck. Although a brown, just one rank below, couldn't be considered bad right? Unknowing on the WW's disappointment the dark brown dragonet shook his head before heading to the boy's side. His hide would always have the appearance of being dirty. The grainy looking texture combined with the brown color would make him look dirt encrusted.



(( All the pictures were made by Risa, who patiently listened to my blathering to make them. You definitely don't have to use them, but they are there to help you get an idea of what the dragon looks like. ))

[Khell]

What was with hatchlings and mornings? When he stood at Telgar the clutch there also began when he was trying to sleep. He’d probably be quite annoyed however they were being woken for a rather good reason.

The hatching.

He pushed himself out of his cot and slunk to the floor, rubbing his eyes to get the sleep off of them. “Too early.” He grumbled softly as he grasped around. His hands finally landed on the white robe which he quickly yanked on before pushing himself up. He shoved his feet into the sandals, patted down his hair and followed the trail of candidates that were already trickling out.

He sniffled slightly before walking out onto the sands, the warmth of them almost burning his feet through his sandals. An unpleasant feeling that had to be ignored. He had only walked a few steps onto the sands when he realized that a brown was already there – scanning the few male candidates who had arrived beforehand. Khell quickly walked up to Raineth and the Weyrwoman and bowed before joining the semi-circle of boys. It didn’t matter that he had stood before – it was still exciting.

---

Aifae was already up even though she was not a morning person. A darn tunnelsnake had gotten in her weyr sometime during the night (There seemed to be a few of these critters lurking about) so she and Kanor had spent sometime trying to hunt it down. Their search was put to a halt though when Colvarinth hummed along with the other dragons.

They hatch The minty green said rather simply.

The rider quickly saddled up her green before lifting herself on top of the dragon. It wasn’t just a busy day for the candidates, everyone in the Weyr was buzzing around with things to do. People had to be picked up, food had to be cooked, healers had to be on stand by. “Let’s head out.” She said, heavily patting her green. They slipped Between to a hold, quickly picking up some people before popping back at Surion. Family members were already rushing to the stands and with the dragons carting them to the Weyr more would be arriving.

[Risa]

~Sandreline~

Things were lovely in her dream. Sandra could fly, without a dragon to hold her up, the winds letting her float across the sky. Then a humming of winds began to stir her toward a bright figure... but wait... that humming was real. So was the voice of the weyrwoman telling the other girls and herself to wake. The hatching was about to begin?! At this hour? Had ever a hatching occured at night? Not that she ever knew of. Then again, Sandra didn't claim to know all.

Jumping up, Sandra almost stumbled right to the floor, the sudden movement making her just a bit dizzy. Oh, why did everything have to be such a rush? Why were the eggs hatching at night of all times? Fumbling around for her canidate robe, Sandra was sure for several moments she had lost it. Thankfully, this was not the case, but it was definatly a scare. Running her fingers through her hair a few times to tame any tangles, Sandra grabbed her sandles.

Falling twice as she pulled on the sandles, she frowned at her own clumsyness. The need for haste didn't help, but finally she was ready to go. Tugging at the white robe to straighten it a bit, she made her way toward the Hatching sands. Her fear of getting lost was for nothing. Even in the dark, she managed to find her way.

Everything seemed so... different. The sands had changed little since the touching, but the feeling had changed drasticly. Things before had been calm, if a bit nervous at the worst. Now though, it was an eager tension here. Secretly, it made her stomach roll, but she'd never show that. No, now was the time that required calm, even if it was only the appearence of being calm.

~Aenoth~

It could be said that Aenoth was asleep, just as much as it could be said he wasn't ready at any moment for just this. Both would be a lie. He hadn't been able to fall asleep, but not because he was expecting this. He'd been thinking of home again. His mind lost in wandering the hold he called home and wondering how his mother was doing. Still, the Weyrwoman yelling at them to get up and to the hatching sands was a fair amount of fire to get him to move.

Pulling on the robe and sandles, he rushed to join all the others. Already a brown had hatched, making him late. Hatchlings were never early after all, the canidates were late. Still, with only one egg hatched, maybe things wouldn't do badly for him. Maybe.

[Luna]

Luna smiled, waved, and murmured greetings to all those passing through. Many weren't awake enough to know who she was, but for others it was mid day. She turned when Yimian made her way up, "Hello Yimian, thank you." She motioned for the woman to relax nearby. Since her seats were close to the eggs and Candidates, it only made sense the Healer sit their too. Usually it was reserved for important Lord Holders, bronzes, and select brown riders, but as she didn't have many dragons it was empty at the moment. She started to relax as the Candidates trickled in and went to their respective circles to wait for the dragons.

She clapped as the brown hatched and started moving around. It really was too bad everyone wasn't here yet, but he didn't seem in too big a hurry. The brown was only just now going to look at the few boys.

[Wangri]

Pasine[/u]
As the others, the Candidate bowed silently to the Gold and waved back blandly to the Weyrwoman. She fell in line with the Girl’s semi-circle, picking a spot in the curve where she was protected by the bodies of other girls but still had a good view of the eggs. Such was a perk of arriving early, as well as getting to see the first dragonet hatch.

Pasine wasn’t one to buy into superstition. After all, if the first Hatchling was indeed a Bronze, she wouldn’t be able to Impress it. She’d rather have a Green for herself, or perhaps a feminine blue, or even a Gold! That certainly would be memorable. However, instead it was a Brown the headed to the boys. Sighing, she set herself up in self-sustaining position by propping her body up with one leg and began the long, nervous wait. It was a good thing that she was patient, otherwise she would be a wreck…

Piene[/u]
... just like Piene was now.

If he had ever heard the expression ‘be careful what you wish for’, then he would say that this was the most applicable moment of his life. Yes, the Hatching had finally started, and yes, the first dragonet was a healthy, if not dirty, looking brown. But the dragonet seemed to be taking his sweet, sweet time lumbering over to the boys, making the Candidate squirm in his robes. He wanted so badly to run out, grab the dragon by the tail and fling it at the Candidate it wanted. Anything to get this waiting done! Once the first Impression was done, he figured he’d be much better, but just sitting here waiting for the show to begin was killing whatever scraps of a soul he had.

Unsuccessfully he tried to distract himself by scanning the ever-growing crowd, but their individual figures were blurred from the heat rising from the Sands, even during the night. Plus, he couldn’t help but glance back at the Brown every other second or so, tracking its progress. C’mon, c’mon! Almost there!
[/font]

[elfie]

Ayver
There was the usual weight on his chest, but it was thrumming, reverberating into him. A humming pervaded Ayver's dreams, making him turn his back and forth. Hazel eyes slowly blinking awake, adjusting to the darkness. It had to be near midnight, and he'd been woken from a sound sleep induced by chores by Kriss. The fire lizard was sitting on his chest, instead of curled up by his side. Faceted eyes were whirling quickly, bright gems in the darkness, and the hum was coming from him. Why...?

Little claws scratched at him, thoughts projected by the blue flit excited. The Hatching! Shardit, he was stupid! The adolescent rose, Kriss tumbling onto the bed with an indignant squawk as Ayver tied back his thick hair in a tail and grabbed his white robe to pull on. He was washing off his arms and face when Luna appeared with a basket of glows, announcing the Hatching was beginning. The lad was the first one out after shoving his sandals on, only because of Kriss. Otherwise, he probably would have been one of the last ones ready. It wasn't that he wasn't a day or night person, he usually just took a while to wake up...

With small wings heralding the arrival of his pet, Ayver darted out of the barracks and headed toward the Sands. He reached up and caressed Kriss' head and neck as the flit perched on his shoulder, curling his tail about his owner's neck to keep his balance. Ayver dipped into a bow as soon as he entered the sands, the polite motion directed to both the Weyrwoman and Raineth.

With quick steps he made his way to the boy's circle, nearly bouncing on his feet. The Hatching was under way! Any minute now the eggs might start cracking, and dragonets tumbling forth. Perhaps he'd Impress this time. A great smile was spread across visage, lean frame filled to bursting with anticipation and excitement. He didn't spare a thought for the doubt he might not Impress--it would utterly ruin the moment.

It was during this time he saw more Candidates arriving, and a brown burst from his shell. The poor thing looked dirty, crusted with dirt, though maybe that was just his coloring. If so, he hoped it might grow out of it. But a brown wasn't really a bad sign was it? Justunder a bronze, it was far better than a green. Even if a green was a lively little sign. At least he thought so.

Imner
Sleep was interrupted quite abruptly by the squawking of something, and then the voice of a woman. Imner slowly blinked awake, knowing the time to be late. That didn't particularly bother him, though he did wish he could get more sleep. He was a little disoriented at first, used to waking with the sun or slightly before, not in the darkest hour. Oh well, things were happening, and he'd best get ready. Weyrwoman Luna had announced the Hatching was starting!

The sturdy lad rose to his feet and ran his hands back through short locks before attempting to find his robe. Ah, there it was, where he'd left it. He pulled it on quickly, before pulling his sandals on with a faint grimace. How were these supposed to protect his feet from anything? He'd never been sure of that. He would miss his work boots, of that he was sure. He decided he'd best wash up a little as well, even if most of the other Candidates had already left the barracks. Showing up to the Touching firestone smelling and soot streaked was one thing, the Hatching was definitely another.

Imner was ready, and just a little late it seemed, when he made it to the Sands. A brown was already on the hot, though thankfully not as hot as usual without the sun, grains looking for His. His hide looked dirt flecked, something that made Imner's lips quirk faintly. If that was anything to go by, that hatchling would be a great worker. The lad made it to the boys circle after bowing deeply to the Weyrwoman and the queen, his hands held loose at his sides. The Hatching was really upon him. He might not have shown it as outwardly, but he was disappointed in himself that he was slightly late and his heart was fluttering with excitement as it usually never did. It was a great moment for all of them present, a chance to Impress!

[Luna]

The artic egg hatched easily compared to others. He just flicked the shell shards away from himself and stepped out. The medium sized brown swung his wedge shaped head around to see all the people at the Stands cheering him on. He wasn't one to like being the center of attention, but he wasn't about to criticize them either.

This brown was laid back about most things in life. The only time you could rile him was when his Weyr was in physical danger or anyone just insulted his rider. He believed in honor greatly and could stand no dishonoring words to those he cares for. He does have a very sensitive side to him and will occasionally remember the names of those his rider comes to love. He has a bit of a curious side, but it won't bother him if he can't satisfy it. He just too laid back to care.

He made his way through the male Candidates, making sure to give them all equal consideration before choosing. He'd already known before hatching, but being sure never hurt anyone.

J'revmine, you're far better than the others I'm glad I picked you. Your Aoryth is very happy you're here. Can we go exploring now?

The hunger of any hatchling was eating at him, but he wasn't one to push this on to his bonded. If J'rev wanted to feed him that'd be great to Aoryth.

[yankeegeek]

Jarev

The older dragons' hum increased slightly in volume and tempo, as an egg wobbled, and cracked to free a brown hatchling. Jarev grinned. He'd never worried much about superstitions; to his mind, a healthy Hatchling was every bit a good omen, regardless of color. He stood still, alternating between watching the rest of the eggs, and the dragonet. The brown was coming toward them, of course, but none of the Candidates were reacting. He assumed the little one hadn't made a final choice known yet.
He firmly squashed a moment's concern over the possibility of the
dragonet not finding anyone suitable. Now was a time to be calm, hopeful and happy. Let the future tend to itself.

Then his attention was completely taken up by a voice in his head. His eyes widened. He barely paused before moving away from the other boys, to his dragon. Aoryth.

He knelt by the brown dragonet, an amazed grin on his face. Oh sure we can, Aoryth, he replied without a second's hesitation. He reached out to stroke the hatchling's head, watching in wonder as the little brown spread his wings to let them dry, shaking away a few loose bits of shell.
"He says his name is Aoryth!" He could barely believe his good luck. Then, a second later, Aoryth's hunger made itself felt.
Let's get you fed first, he suggested. See, it's just over there. Everyone's been waiting on you and your clutchsibs.

[Luna]

The Rainforest egg had been wiggling for quite some time now. It was just now starting to rock as only two eggs had left their confines. The Rainforest egg smacked right into the Cave egg before stopping completely. A desperate chirping could be heard from inside as the dragonet tried to get out despite the egg's hard shell. Finally the egg cracked, except two hind legs poked out. The little green ended up tumbling, still inside the egg, further down the Sands squawking the entire way. Good news was, she finally got the egg broken up enough to stand.

She stood with some shell bits sliding off, others stuck on because of the oozing egg fluid and plenty of sand on her too. It was rather hard to see her coloring through everything, but when cleaned off she'd be a brilliant emerald color. On the ground she'd be a klutz, but in the sky she'd be unmatched in agility. She's not always graceful in her moves, but she'll get every clump of mock Thread in the drills, although her rider might be dizzy or nauseous afterwards. She'll grow up to be a rather petite green.

[Risa]

~Sandra~

With the first two hatchlings being brown, Sandra didn't even get her hopes up. After all, browns impressed boys. She was still waiting for a hatchling that might look over toward her or any other girls. After all, not all the hatchlings could be bronze and brown. She just had to wait. Be calm, be inviting, be open to them... That was all she could do really. Each hatchling chose for a reason, Sandra remembered hearing that, and beleived it whole-heartedly.

Then the green. Perhaps her? Maybe her.

~Aenoth~

Two browns and a green, and one who didn't seem to be in any hurry to impress. Well, the good luck of bronzes hatching first couldn't happen every time. Besides, browns weren't bad. So long as a blue wouldn't pick him. That alone might devistate his mother to see, the memory of his father might very well be the death of her. Shardit! Couldn't he stop thinking of home even long enough for the hatching! This was home now. There was no room for that to be doubted. Still, outside his own mental war, he did see the brown impress one of the other boys. He'd have to remember to say congradulations later, to him and all the others as well.

[Wangri]

Pasine[/u]
As another brown hatched and made his way to Jarev, Pasine added to the cheers and clapping emanating from the Stands. Even if she wasn't overly fond of the boy, she did have a heart, and seeing the first pair lovingly embrace did strike a chord on her heart strings.

Then, a petite green managed to kcik out part of her shell. Pasine was at immediate attention, standing as straight as a board. Now it was the Girl's turn for some action! Hungrily, she eyed the klutzy green as it somersaulted over the dunes and finally emerged triumphant in the eternal fight of dragnet versus egg. Even though she was covered in Sand and ooze, Pasine spotted a spot of attractive green. Now all the little thing had to do was come over to this side...

Piene[/u]
This Candidate was so focused on the first brown that when the second appeared at him for his turn of scrutiny, he thought the first had magically replicated himself. Before he could even blink, though, the dragonet had moved on to the boy next to him. It wasn't long before he found a bonded in Jarev, releasing some of the tension in Piene's chest. Sure, he hadn't Impressed, yet, but now that the Hatching was underway there wasn't anything else to worry about. He just had to sit back and let the dragonets come to him.

Figuratively, of course. There wasn't any amount of marks that would get him to sit in the scorching Sands.
[/font]

[Luna]

The cave egg had stayed absolutely still for the hatching. Most eggs would occasionally rock or maybe shed a small part of the shell while the dragonet inside worked to free themselves, but this egg was still. Luna was almost afraid that it would be a dud. It wasn't that unheard of and it was Raineth's first flight. Which made his hatching all the more surprising. The cave egg exploded to reveal a bronze dragonet. He didn't shake his egg or crack at it, he just bust it open. Sharp shards of egg shell flew everywhere, most harmlessly, but one or two hit Pasine hard as his egg had been nearer the girl's circle than the boy's. The first one nicked her leg, but the second hit her right arm and lodged in.

The bronze dragonet's hide rippled as the muscles flexed beneath his hide. Even newly hatched he was a sight to see, he would grow up to be a rather large dragon, not only with size, but the bulk of his muscled frame would be impressive. It would hamper his agility in flights and drills, but he'd make up for it in stamina and sheer determination.

The bronze started towards the boys, but stopped not three feet later, bellowing as he sliced his lower forearm on a shell fragment. His tail lashing, the dragonet bit into the Sands in retribution, of course all that got him was a mouthful of hot sand. Squawking and backing up as he quickly tried to spit out all the sand he was definitely not happy as he turned his sights on the males.

He passed the first few boy's without a glance. He stopped to pause at Ayver for a moment before growling at him. He wasn't a full sized dragon, but any one had to be a dimglow if they weren't intimidated by such a powerful creature. He paused his search, his tail lashing, to take a step towards the boy. Eyes whirling a devilish red the dragonet openly his powerful jaws lazily. Muscles flexed as he eyed the boy, Perhaps if he mauled this one it'd ....

Choose little one, your chosen will feed you and clean you. Then you may sleep. Not only the voice of his mother, but that of his queen, the bronze obeyed.

[Luna]

The marsh egg rocked gently side to side as the dragon within moved restlessly, slowly tapping away at the egg. The sand bunched up around the egg as it seemed to move itself deeper into the sand. Muffled squawks of impatience could be heard from within as the Marsh's occupant started tapping harder on the shell.

Suddenly the marsh egg broke neatly in half and each piece fell to either side of the green dragonet as she sat within the perfect circle of sand. Daintily she stood up and stepped out of the shards of her shell. Even those first few steps conveyed a gracefulness beyond compare. This green would grow up to be one of those most graceful of greens in the Weyr. Even a move that seemed effortless to her would take a long practice session with any other dragon.

After the second step the green paused to inspect the gritty stuff beneath her claws. Was she really supposed to work with this? After daintily shaking a claw and seeing no results, it seemed she decided to find her chosen. Surely she'd find a way to make this stuff disappear. Her head head regally high, she moved to the female Candidates. She paused as she reached the girl's semi circle, any indecision or theatrical waiting to choose wasn't for her, she knew who she wanted and she wanted them now.

[yankeegeek]

J'rev
He led Aoryth over to the waiting food, grabbing a pail of sliced-up raw meat. Past experience had told him what to do. He
sat, cross-legged, and offered Aoryth a piece. It was accepted
eagerly-- "Hey, slow down," he said, kindly but firmly. "Chew it first, I don't want you choking."
I'll be all right, but if you want, Aoryth answered. He deliberately slowed down, chewing each handful as it was given to him. J'rev rubbed his forearm over his face, unconscious of smearing dirt over his cheek. The Sands' heat was beginning to be more noticeable. He continued feeding Aoryth until the dragonet was full. Afterward, they turned to watch the others Impress. One egg, rolling across the Sands,
feet sticking out, made J'rev laugh. That little green looked rather indignant, when she finally extricated herself. He couldn't blame her, but it was funny, regardless.

Yimian
She watched, as the brown went to his bonded, and other eggs cracked open. All seemed to be going rather well.
Her expression didn't change as the bronze Hatched, but a second later, she was on her feet, moving quickly and smoothly from the Stands toward the girl who'd been hit. As always, her kit was in her hand. She took a path that wouldn't put her in any of the hatchlings' way, as she made her way over to where Pasine stood. The bronze seemed unusually aggressive even for a hungry and unbonded dragon.

[Luna]

The rain forest dragonet peered around the Sands. It was all rather hard to see and some were even laughing at her! She ducked her head down and tried to scoot back, hoping to somehow get back in her shell. All she succeeded in was somehow falling over backwards.

Please A'vermine, they're laughing at me. I'm hungry, dirty, and tired. Please help your Imith.

[Wangri]

Pasine[/u]
A bronze hatched, exploding from his shell. Pasine fell a step back from what she originally though the wake of the tremor, but then she felt a sharp pain on her leg and an even sharper one on her shoulder.

She looked down hazily, caught up in the quivering heat rays like a fog. Why was there a Shell attached to her arm? She was not a dragonet, and she was far past birth; she shouldn't have one. And what was this sticky stuff? At first she thought it egg goo, but the viscosity of the liquid wasn't quite right. Plus, it was multiplying and flowing over her shard. Oh, it was blood.

And it was running all down her clean white robes, staining them.

Pasine snapped back to herself, only much more peeved than she had been previously. The nerve of the bronze, injuring her without even pausing to acknolodge he'd done it! And now her precious white cloth was being ruined! Without it, she didn't know if she'd Impress. Who knew what dragons baised their judgment on, after all? The Candidate'd thought that if it was cleanliness of robes, she'd be the first to Impress. But now she'd be utterly doomed, thanks to that big bad Bronze!

Then a Healer appeared behind her, distracting Pasine from her inward rant against the insulting dragonet. "Don't take me off the Sands!" Pasine barked, half ordering, half pleeding. She could still Stand, figuratively and literally, after all, even if she was starting to feel a tad woozy from the blood loss.
[/FONT]

[yankeegeek]

Yimian already had a wad of bandaging in one hand, and began to apply pressure around the piece of shell, to slow the bleeding. It would have to come out,but first things first. She watched the dragonets out of the corner of her eye, shaking her head slightly at Pasine's request.
For safety's sake, they did need to take this off the Sands, even if not leave altogether. She had to clean the wound first and see how bad it was.
"Can you walk?" she asked, scrutinizing Pasine for any other injuries. R'van joined them, putting a hand out to steady the young woman.